RESUMEN
Ex vivo tissue engineering is an effective therapeutic approach for the treatment of severe cartilage diseases that require tissue replenishment or replacement. This strategy demands scaffolds that are durable enough for long-term cell culture to form artificial tissue. Additionally, such scaffolds must be biocompatible to prevent the transplanted matrix from taking a toll on the patient's body. From the viewpoint of structure and bio-absorbability, a ß-tricalcium phosphate (ß-TCP) fiber scaffold (ßTFS) is expected to serve as a good scaffold for tissue engineering. However, the fragility and high solubility of ß-TCP fibers make this matrix unsuitable for long-term cell culture. To solve this problem, we developed an alginate-coated ß-TCP fiber scaffold (ßTFS-Alg). To assess cell proliferation and differentiation in the presence of ßTFS-Alg, we characterized ATDC5 cells, a chondrocyte-like cell line, when grown in this matrix. We found that alginate coated the surface of ßTFS fiber and suppressed the elution of Ca2+ from ß-TCP fibers. Due to the decreased solubility of ßTFS-Alg compared with ß-TCP, the former provided an improved scaffold for long-term cell culture. Additionally, we observed superior cell proliferation and upregulation of chondrogenesis marker genes in ATDC5 cells cultured in ßTFS-Alg. These results suggest that ßTFS-Alg is suitable for application in tissue culture.